Long Live Katharine Hepburn

A dear friend of mine lent me a set of Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn's old movies and one day I was watching Pat & Mike as I did my daily exercise. At one point I was so struck by one of Katharine Hepburn’s insightful lines that I had to pause my workout to write it down. This is what she said to a dim-witted boxer who had become very angry at the manager whose orders he blindly obeyed:

“It’s never you against the whole world, it’s just you against yourself.”

When I heard this quote I imagined two versions of myself at opposite sides of a boxing ring. One was seething mad and beaten bloody while the other was calmly bouncing around her side of the ring open to whatever came her way.

This wise nugget really resonated with me as most of my life I looked outside of myself for direction and comfort and felt angry and blamed those around me for not being able to eliminate my never-ending unhappiness. I was always in a battle with "them."

Gratefully I stopped my stubborn streak and adopted a new way of interacting with the people around me. The principle I now choose to use as the foundation of my life says I always have a choice about how I respond to anything I encounter. 

Am I going to give in to my unexamined emotions or am I going to take a breath and create a monetary pause so that I can choose the highest expression of myself in that moment? Am I going to blame another for my anger or am I going to acknowledge that another touched a sensitive area that already existed within me? Am I going to lie so that I don’t look bad or am I going to be honest about who I am? 

In the long run it comes down to your willingness to do whatever it takes to heal those places within you so that they are not so tender and prone to injury. When you have healed those broken places there is little room for insult and injury to fit in the cracks. You will be whole and complete and disinterested in engaging in high drama.

My deepest wish for you is that you empower yourself to respond to people, places and things in a way that you can be proud of. In such a way that you look at yourself in the mirror and genuinely love the person who is reflected back. A person who has no shame or secrets, one who would never hurry across the street for fear of seeing “that” person. May you find peace in embracing the loving and kind spirit that you are. This Divine spark is within you whether you have never seen, heard or even imagined this beautiful being. It is possible to live from that space most of the time. It’s a conscious choice. Are you willing to make it?

Wishing you loving choices,

Amber

Wonders of Witnessing Acts of Kindness

I always feel a smile come across my lips or a warm feeling that prompts me to touch my heart when I am lucky enough to be in the vicinity of an exchange of heartfelt generosity. What I am thrilled to find out is how exponentially powerful witnessing acts of kindness are.

A study performed at Harvard University and the University of California at San Diego showed that a single act of kindness can extend as far as three degrees of separation and also spreads laterally to affect a greater number of people than were originally present.

The people watching a loving exchange are affected and their positive experience prompts them to pay that kindness and generosity forward and beyond. As the giver you are in essence helping others who were not originally involved and this creates a cascade of kindness.

The commitment to embody the love we truly are has astounding affects on all we touch and all they touch. It takes only a handful of individuals to open their hearts and really make a difference. Ok you have all the scientific evidence you need (from Harvard no less), now go start a cascade of kindness.

I'd love to hear your experience of witnessing an act of kindness and its affect on you right afterwards and throughout your day.

With love and light,
Amber